10 Year Old Gangsters
As I was driving home from school to my house in the Glendale neighborhood of Salt Lake City, I saw the usual things around my neighborhood. There was graffiti on the walls of the bathrooms at the park; I see a group of kids dressed in the same color shirts with their pants almost below their waist just doing no good. There are kids as young as 10 years old already putting there lives in danger. Why won’t the parents do anything about it?
On September 22nd Juvenile Court Judge Andrew Valdez spoke at Mountain View Elementary School in Glendale about keeping kids out of gangs. Whenever he had kids in his courtroom, he asked the kids parents if they knew about what the offense was and if they knew who their friends were. The answer that he mostly hears for both of them was no. Most parents don’t know what their kids are doing until it comes to the time that they have to go to court. That is why he went and spoke to the parents of 9, 10 and 11 year olds. He wanted them to be aware that they could be victims of gangs and this is a big problem. It is best to guide them into positive directions such as sports and activities.
“It is up to you to make sure they choose the right group. You have the power to determine which way your child is going”
Valdez said.
Valdez also said,
“You can give me all the probation officers, cops, resources and programs in the world. But the one thing that makes a difference in a child’s life is a mentor”
The people that make a difference in kids’ lives really are there parents and older siblings. I have a younger brother and my mom tells me he really looks up to me. He is at the age where there is a lot of peer pressure.
Kids start to try to fit in with different groups at about age 9; it can be sports, music and art groups. If they don’t receive the support they need they may turn to gangs where they think they are in the right group.
“I don’t want to see you in court.”
Valdez told the parents.
He wanted them to support their children if they like something; he was once an at-risk street kid until he tried tennis. This had him become the respected judge he is now.
Comments
Dear Javila: This post of
Dear Javila:
This post of yours reminded me quite a few things. I think this issue is becoming a serious concern, more serious than it is thought to be for the people who have the power to actually take some action about it.
The quote "There are kids as young as 10 years old already putting there lives in danger" reminded me of my own experience. Many years ago when i was 6th grade, around me there were many similar kids who were in a gang of some sort. None of them was smart enough to realize anything inproper with it. All they saw was being cool, riding on top of others instead being rode on top of. The school noticed its existence long since, but had never taken any action about it, this encouraged the gang to grow. I was more than glad and relieved once i graduated.
Another of your quote that stood out for me is"...he asked the kids parents if they knew about what the offense was and if they knew who their friends were. The answer that he mostly hears for both of them was no. " This is partially why i think it is a very serious concern. The kids learned to lie, to pretend at such a small age, at home and maybe even in school they pretend like a good kid, but when it comes to the time, they could totally transform into another person. I have another quote:"The most dangerous bullets are not the ones fired by the enemies", if the danger is known, it can be fixed and avoided. If the danger lies somewhere stealthed, like in this case, it will be too late when the parents noticed, as stated in your post.
Thank for posting such a discussable matter. Although i think it will take more than a hobby or two to actually change a kid, but i do believe support from elders will really help. If Youthvoices has more of this kind of posts, i think i will actually start to like it.
people should really start
people should really start taking care of their kids
So true
Dear Jesus
I am interested with your post, “10 year old gangsters” because i have seeing this kind of situation already and I was interested in reading what you wrote on your topic. Also because i was wanting to know how you felt about this situation.
One sentence you wrote that out-stand for me is, “There are kids as young as 10 years old already putting their lives in danger” I think this interesting because now in days you see kids at the age of 10 and 11 that are already interested in joining gangs. Also its interesting because kids say that they join gangs because they feel protected and they feel like that's their family.
Another sentence that caught my attention was, “Why won’t the parents do anything about it?” This stood out for me because most of the parents now in days don't know what their children are doing because parents don't believe their children will be capable of such a thing. Also because sometimes the parents don't pay attention to the kids and this provokes the kids to start wanting to do whatever they want.
I definitely agree with you that most of the parents don't know what their kids are dealing with until they get into trouble and the parents are informed about it or are taken to court one reason i say this is because most of the parents children never tell them what they going through or what they are doing and parents never know until they are informed. Another reason i agree with this is because many children don't feel comfortable talking to their parents about their situations because they feel that their parents might get upset with them and punish them.
Thanks for your writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next, because i like reading about topics that deal with reality. Also because these kind of topics actually make you wonder about many things that can be helpful to you.